REVIEW: 12 Monkeys 1×11 “Shonin”

Welcome to the question and answer person of the program, we will now answer all relevant questions, or you know just the ones relevant to Ramse. “Shonin” is interesting for many different reasons but more than anything it is willing to show us just how patient and methodical the Army of the 12 Monkeys truly is. Their method of molding the perfect weapon and developing a way to get all of the pieces to fall into the exact right place is fun to watch. Even more so is seeing the Ramse we now change so drastically into the master planner we see towards the end of the episode. There are a lot of substantial reveals throughout the episode and with all of those reveals come some major questions about how exactly the 12 Monkeys gained all of their information. However at the end of the day this episode falls squarely into the realm of setup and now that all of that is complete we can plunge towards our climax.

So the biggest reveal of this week was that Ramse, after traveling to 1987 and shanking Cole, was recruited by the 12 Monkeys to become the witness. Watching one of our heroes take this extremely dark turn was both fascinating and irritating. For Ramse to basically commit to the fact that he will never see his son again is a solid motivation for everything that transpired but as the episode moved on it felt like he had simply forgot about him in the thirty years since his jump. By the end of his time in prison I barely recognized the man who would become the trump card of the 12 Monkeys as he easily managed to get a man killed without touching. If there was every a bigger sign of “don’t screw with me” power I don’t know it. I did however find it odd that he so easily went along with the 12 Monkeys plan as the Ramse we have seen up to this point has been cautious and pensive about his choices. This Ramse however set himself unflinchingly to the task and I hope to find out how they persuaded him to other than the obvious reason.

As for all of the other major reveals it was interesting seeing Ramse just neatly nestle himself into our pre-existing events. Whether it be interacting with Goines, or subtly manipulating Aaron into becoming the 12 Monkeys’ lap dog Ramse showed just the right amount of control especially when people like the Pallid Man got angry. Ramse, despite having one basic goal knew that certain events needed to take place in order of him to end up exactly where he needed to be. It is bizarre that the 12 Monkeys and specifically Olivia knew everything about Ramse which implies that someone else from the future has interfered with the past previously. You would think that this person would have tangentially interfered with Cole’s mission enough that they would warrant being on the radar. It leaves me to wonder who this person is and if that will be the big reveal at the end of the season as whoever this is really has a hate on for Cole and an adoration for Ramse for some reason.

What really excited me however was the end of the episode as for once in the shows short history the 12 Monkeys seemingly don’t hold all of the cards. Ramse and by extension the 12 Monkeys forgot the golden rule, always double tap or they aren’t really dead. For Cole not only to sell be alive, but also have the element of surprise is a real game changer in some ways as it is his first real advantage over the Monkeys. Of course now that he is without a safety net in Jones we will have to see just how much of an advantage he has or if this is a one time only deal. Either way I am excited to see the direction this is heading in.

Overall it was a really solid effort.

Final Grade B+

+Ramse playing the super long game

+Cole having an advantage

+Some nice reveals

-That raised more questions

Extra Thoughts

-Were there no better wigs for Goines or was this a fixed even in time?

-I loved everything about the club scene right down to Goines doing coke. That was so unexpected and for some reason enjoyable to watch.